When We Were Young
by rockerchickk
Summary: “It was always about Finn. When I first met you, you were wearing a pink sundress. Ask Finn if he remembers that. You were singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ holding a toy microphone. Ask Finn if he remembers that." Sorry, I suck at summaries . R


**Hey, I'm rockerchickk. An avid FanFiction reader and a huge Gleek. (:**  
**- So this is a one shot and it's also a test. If enough people like this story, then maybe I'll write more.**  
**So I hope you like it. R&R (:**  


* * *

At the age of seven, Puck knew that Rachel Berry and he could never be friends. At a young age, she was very ambitious, spoke words that a twelfth grader would use and dressed in a very weird way.

In his neighborhood, there was a small field that contained a tree house. He claimed that tree house. During the summer, his best friend Finn would come over around breakfast, since his mom would have to work and right after they'd run over to the tree house and play superheroes.

That day was not ordinary day. As they were climbing up the ladder, they heard a noise. They suddenly stopped. It sounded like someone was singing. What was a stranger doing in their tree house?

_Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me._

Finn looked down at Puck, "Shhh! Do you…do you hear that?"

"Someone is in the tree house," Puck whispered as he looked up at Finn.

_Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly._

Finn touched the red cape that was attached to his neck and pulled down his mask. He looked down at Puck and signaled Puck to do the same with his. Someone had invaded their superhero hideout and would pay for it. They quickly climbed up the ladder and got inside the house.

_Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can't I?_

They both spotted a girl with hair up to her shoulders wearing a pink sundress and holding what looked to be a toy microphone. She looked at them annoyed and said "Excuse me, this is a closed rehearsal."

Puck was mad that she was trying to kick them out of their tree house. He shouted "This is our superhero cave! You should be the one leaving."

The girl huffed and put her hands on her hips. She tapped and foot and said "Where does it claim that you own this tree house?"

"Well…we saw it first, so it's ours!" he replied.

She looked over at Finn and asked "Do you have anything to say?"

Finn smiled at her and said, "Hi, I'm Finn Hudson."

She walked towards him, shook his hand and said "Pleasure to meet you Finn, I'm Rachel Berry."

She looked at Puck and asked in a monotone voice "And you are?"

"Your worst enemy" he replied as he gritted his teeth.

"Nah, he's just messing with you. His name is Noah Puckerman, but we call him Puck" Finn said with a toothless smile.

Rachel made a face and asked, "Ew, why would you call him Puck?"

Puck looked like he was going to shoot out fire from his eyes. Only if he was a superhero. "Because it's cool!"

She shrugged and said "Oh well, but I won't call you that. I like Noah better"

Puck looked at her and he wasn't sure, but he was starting to blush a little bit. He thought she was kind of cute.

She clapped her hands and began to walk towards the ladder and said "Now, I have to leave. I'll see you both very soon."

As she disappeared, Finn nudged Puck and said "I think we made a new friend."

-----

He sometimes wondered if his mother was actually a villain like the Green Goblin or Darth Vader because she's somehow trying to ruin his life. She once bought him suspenders and made him wear it to school. She tried to clean some ketchup of his cheeks when they went out to eat. But this time, it was far worse. She invited Rachel over for dinner.

Puck found out that Rachel moved into the big house in their neighborhood. He's never seen her around because she used to live at the edge of town and went to a school nearby. The only thing Puck found cool about her is that she has two dads. Puck has a dad but he's always busy traveling or doing other neat stuff, so he only gets to see him on Christmas.

After dinner, Rachel joined him in the living room to watch some television. She plopped herself near him and asked him, "What are you watching?"

He looked at her and then looked back at the TV set and replied "The Simpsons"

She had not replied back so he looked at her again to see that she was staring at him. That's when he realized it, "You don't know what The Simpsons is?!"

She quickly shook her head.

He started to laugh and said "You're kidding right?"

"Are you insulting me?" she asked

He started to laugh even more and then quickly stopped when he saw that she looked sad.

"Yeah, uhh" he ran his hand over his hair "I was just joking. Uhm, it's 'cause I never met someone who didn't know who The Simpsons were."

"It's okay, I barely get time to watch the television anyways, what's the point of starting?" she said quietly.

He felt bad so he decided to turn it off. They sat there in the quiet for about a millisecond, until Rachel said "How about I make you a bargain?"

Puck looked confused. He had no idea what that word meant, but she kept yammering on, "You can play your Neanderthal games everyday in the tree house except the weekends after 4; that's when I can rehearse my vocals."

He just wanted her to shut up so he agreed.

-----

The following day, he told Finn about the bargain which Finn agreed to. Finn thought that Rachel was funny. They would play their superhero games everyday, since Rachel had summer plans such as dance and singing classes and Girl Scout, and on the weekends, around four o'clock, she would use the tree house as a stage and sing songs. Puck would sometimes listen to her sing.

One day, he decided to go see Rachel practice. He thought it would be okay since she likes attention and whatnot. He climbed up the ladder to be surprised because he saw Finn there with Rachel. They were dancing and singing. They didn't realize that Puck was there so he left and ran home.

When he reached to his house, he opened the door and ran to his room and slammed that door. He felt this small pain in his stomach. He kept thinking about Rachel and Finn holding hands. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was jealous.

Two days later, Rachel and her fathers came over for dinner and that's when she told Puck that she had a crush on Finn. She thought that he was very cute and funny. That night, while tossing and turning in bed, he declared that he hated Rachel.  


* * *

When school started and him, Rachel and Finn were in the same class, he did everything possible to make Finn not hang out with Rachel. He even introduced him to some random blonde girl named Quinn. Three months later, Finn told Puck that he's getting married to Quinn and that he'd buy her the watermelon flavored Ring Pop as a wedding ring. When Rachel found out, she was hurt because she wanted Finn to give her a watermelon flavored Ring Pop. Puck didn't care if Rachel was sad; he wanted her to be miserable.

----

By middle school, Rachel Berry was considered a freak. She had a very high average in school, but was not considered a nerd. She had dreams to be famous but was not considered ambitious. She used to help out in many school funds but was not considered as nice. She was a freak.

Puck was amused how she was made fun of daily, so he decided to do something to get her very upset. Right before spring break, during lunchtime, he went to the corner store and decided to buy a carton of milk. He was going to break into her locker and place the milk on the top shelf and when she gets back from the break, her locker would smell really bad and people would think it was her and wouldn't want to go anywhere near her. He also saw that the Slushee machine was open again so he decided to buy one.

When he came back, he saw that she was near her locker so he decided to do it after school. Finn was play fighting with one of the basket-ball players and accidentally pushed Puck. Luckily, he caught his balance but the next thing you know, his Slushee was all over Rachel. Every one surrounding her started to laugh. For a second, Puck had to rethink what just happened and then started to laugh. Finn asked her if she was okay, but she quickly ran to the girl's bathroom.

---

Puck was considered a legend by his junior year in McKinley. The Slushee incident had continued after the break and so forth. He did it at least three or four times a week when she least expected it. The reason he kept doing it is because she never told on him. But that's not his fault, if Rachel wants to squeal, let her but right now he's enjoying it. Sometimes, he even gets to see the bra she's wearing under her shirts.

His Spanish teacher Mr. Shuester, decided to open a glee club. Rachel, of course joined. What surprised him was that Finn had also joined. This had re-opened all her feeling for Finn, which made Puck somewhat angry. After a month of thinking, he decided to join.

He won't deny that Rachel had mad vocals and because of her they placed second place in Nationals. Being Rachel, he thought that she would be very upset that they didn't come first, but she looked like she just met one of her musical idols or something.

After the ceremony, Rachel went searching for her fathers and then realized that they never came. She looked sad as she waited for them to at least pick her up. Finally, Puck's mom offered a ride home which she accepted. She kept mumbling how she was certain that they would come.

When they dropped her off, they spotted a policeman in front of her large yard. The next thing you know, Rachel burst into tears as the policeman informed her that her fathers had died in a car accident. Even after being name-called or being thrown Slushees at, this time Puck felt really sorry for Rachel.

* * *

The funeral took place during the summer. Puck kept staring at Rachel who hadn't shed a single tear during the whole ceremony, but he knew that she was very sad.

Puck's mom went up to Rachel and hugged her, "Honey, you can stay with us if you want."

Rachel gave a half smile and said "It's okay Mrs. Puckerman. A lawyer will be coming over today, to see if I can get emancipated since I have no more legal guardians. It's better so I can practice living by myself since I'll be leaving for New York after I graduate."

His mother looked worried, "Rachel, are you sure? I'm afraid that you'll get scared living all by yourself in that big house"

"I'm certain." Rachel replied

----

This was hands down the worst summer that Puck had ever seen. It rained non-stop. He couldn't even play Call of Duty with Finn because the rain brought him down.

Puck was lying in his room, playing with a basket-ball when his mother barged into the room. "Ma, what the hell? Haven't you heard of knocking? What if I was naked."

"Noah," his mother warned him "Rachel's coming over for dinner. I got her to agree when I saw her at the super-market today. I want you to be as nice to her as possible,"

He ran his hands down his Mohawk, he hadn't seen her since the funeral, and then sighed, "Yeah, no problem."

----

During dinner, he went into the kitchen to see that Rachel was already there. She looked different. She had cut her hair which was down to her shoulders and was wearing a black tank top with a nice blue long skirt. She looked amazing to Puck's eyes.

After dinner, his mother forced her to stay for a little longer. So they both sat down in the dining room and began to talk while Puck was leaning against the door.

"Honey, are you doing okay?" his mom asked

Rachel was quiet for awhile and then spoke up, "Actually, sometimes at night, I get a bit scared but I get through it. I leave the computer on so it makes some noise and I don't have to hear nothing."

His mother looked at her all worried and then said, "Would you like it if Noah stayed with you during the night. I mean, in another bedroom of course."

"That's really thoughtful Mrs. Puckerman," Rachel said with a smile, "but I don't think Noah would—"

"Yeah I'm fine with that." Puck interrupted.

Rachel widened her eyes and opened her mouth to protest but closed it right away. She whispered "Okay."

----

He decided to start staying over that night. As much as he wanted to say it was to see Rachel sleep in a sexy silk nightgown, it was to make sure she was okay. Puck realized that he has known her for almost ten years, yet he never has seen her house.

As she opened the front door and they both entered the house, he looked at the living room. It was perfectly normal. There were black leather couches. There was also a cream-coloured carpet and on top a black wooden counter table. There was a fireplace and a huge TV stuck on the wall. He went and sat on the couch as she ran upstairs.

She came down a little while later while he was watching TV, she stared at him and he looked at her. "Can I sit down?"

He laughed at her, "Berry, it's your house. You can do whatever you want."

She stupidly laughed and sat down next to him. He went through the channels and asked, "Okay, what do you want to watched?"

"Hmm" she said, "How about The Simpsons?"

He suddenly remembered that time when he first met her. And then he smiled, "Berry, you told me you weren't going to start watching it."

She smiled coyly, "I didn't."

They were in luck because The Simpsons were showing on one of the channels. Puck checked his clock and realized that it was 9:35 and he remembered that there was a party that he was invited to. He looked at Rachel and then realized how she would disapprove. He told her, "I'm tired, you wanna show me the way to your guestroom?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "Noah, it's not even 10 and I'm pretty sure you don't even go to bed until midnight."

"Yeah, well I'm really tired."

"I don't believe you."

"What?"

"What are you hiding?"

He finally gave in and told her, "There's this party…and…yeah."

She looked at him and then at the TV, "Oh okay."

He got up and froze and asked her, "You sure it's okay?"

She looked at him and said "Noah, it's your life; you can do whatever you want."

Puck turned to the door and left. He kept promising himself, he'd be back by at least 11:59. He went to get his car in front of his house and then looked at Rachel's house and realized that he should've asked her to come along. He took out his cell and called her. When she picked up, he asked, "Babe, you wanna come along?"

"No thank you. I'm just going to watch a movie." She replied back.

"You gonna wait up for me?" he asked in a seducing voice.

"Bye Noah" she said laughing.

----

Puck woke up to the smell of grease. He had gotten home around 12:30, to see that Rachel had fallen asleep on the couch. He went upstairs to look find her room and when he found it, he went to the living room and picked her up and put her in her bed. Later, he found the guestroom and changed clothes and fell asleep.

He went downstairs to see Rachel cooking breakfast. She already made pancakes and was now frying bacon. She saw him and smiled, "Good morning."

He rubbed his eyes and said "Yeah, good morning. What time is it?"

She looked at the digital time on the stove and replied "10:30"

His jaw dropped, "You're serious?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I woke up an hour late."

He laughed and said, "I woke up early. About three hours early."

She widened her eyes "You're kidding."

He shook his head. "You have to try it sometime."

She smiled and said, "Yeah, why not?"

She gave him a plate full of pancakes and bacon and handed him some chocolate syrup. "Here, dig in."

---

The daily routine for the whole summer was that Puck would come over to Rachel's around 10, whenever he didn't have a party to attend, to sleep and leave after he had breakfast. He had gotten used to it after a week or so.

Puck also realized that Rachel never went out anymore. She would go out only if there was shortage of food but other than that she shut herself from the world.

One night, he came over around 8 since he was bored at home. Rachel had given him a key so he used it to open the door. He saw that she was doing the laundry with her iPod on as she was singing along.

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Way up high,  
There's a land that I heard of  
Once in a lullaby._

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Skies are blue,  
And the dreams that you dare to dream  
Really do come true._

_Someday I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far  
Behind me.  
Where troubles melt like lemon drops  
Away above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me._

_Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly.  
Birds fly over the rainbow.  
Why then, oh why can't I?_

_If happy little bluebirds fly  
Beyond the rainbow  
Why, oh why can't I?_

She turned around to see him leaning against the door. He gave her a half-smile, "I was bored so I thought we could watch some episodes of The Simpsons."

She nodded and they settled themselves on the couch.

-----

Finn had invited Puck to a party over at his house and let him bring Rachel over too. He went over at Rachel's house around sunset. She was sitting in a patio chair in her backyard watching the sunset. He decided to sit right next to her. It was the first time he had seen the sun the whole summer since it rained once everyday. There was a clear view of the tree house from her backyard.

"This is the first place I saw the tree house." She said staring at it.

"Yeah?" he asked.

She looked at him and nodded. Then she looked back at the sunset.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked him.

"Yeah." he said smiling.

They were quiet for awhile. They stared at the purple sky. Puck looked at her and said, "You know the other day when you were singing while doing the laundry. That song was the first song I ever heard you sing."

She thought for awhile and then realized it, "Oh yeah. That day at the tree house."

"Yeah," he smiled, "that day when we met."

"You were with Finn. I remembered that he didn't have his two front teeth," she laughed "I thought he looked adorable."

Puck felt his face flush and then blabbed, "That's all you remember?"

She looked at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, did you remember that I was also in that tree house. Or did your memory blacken everything other than Finn." He said firmly.

"Noah, why are you mad?" she asked.

He got up and said hesitantly, "I'm not. I'm. I'm not. Whatever, why would you care."

She got up and shouted, "What do you mean by 'Why would you care'?"

He got upset and said, "It was always about Finn. When I first met you, you were wearing a pink sundress. Ask Finn if he remembers that. You were singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' holding a toy microphone. Ask Finn if he remembers that. Ask Finn if he ever deeply cared about you!"

There were tears in her eyes, but she quietly said, "Noah, why are you doing this?"

"You don't know how much you hurt me that day when I saw you and Finn singing Sonny & Cher in the tree house. You guys were holding hands and dancing. When you told me that you had a crush on Finn, I felt like some older kid punched me in the stomach."

"Okay, so that's why you made my life miserable. That's why you started to throw Slushees at me!" she shouted with tears coming out.

"I wanted you to be hurt like I was." He replied back.

She started to cry and then went towards him. She whispered, "Noah."

He turned towards the door; he started to walk and said, "You don't care."

----

Puck decided not to go to the party so he just roamed around for an hour or two. He went to the corner store and bought some chips and a drink because he got hungry. He debated if he should go over to Rachel's or sleep in his own bed. He didn't want his mom to yell at him, so he decided to go over at Rachel's around one in the morning because he was sure, she'd be sleeping.

Finn called him a bunch of times, but he didn't bother answering.

Around one o'clock, he got out the key and opened the door. All the lights were closed. He quietly went upstairs and into the guestroom and changed clothes and got into the bed.

He was half-asleep when he heard Rachel come into his room.

"Noah?" she whispered.

He looked at her as she entered the room. He sat up and cleared his voice and said "Listen Rache, I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean—"

"Ssshhh," she interrupted him. She got into the bed and kissed him in the lips and said, "I do care."

He cupped her face and pulled her closer and kissed her. He let go of her and she pulled of his t-shirt. She doesn't look a bit nervous. She let him take off the tank top she was wearing. And he pulls her closer and then asks her, "Are you sure about this?"

She lets a deep breath out, and nods her head in confirmation.

----

The curtains in the guestroom were closed, only leaving a crack open. When the sun hit his face, Puck finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and checked the clock. It read 2:47. He looked to his left to see Rachel sleeping right next to him which confirmed that last night did happen. He kissed her forehead and got up to take a shower.

When he came out, he saw that Rachel wasn't there anymore. He left the guestroom to find her. As he passed her room, he saw her coming out of the bathroom with her hair dripping wet. She looked at him and smiled.

He smiled back.

She went downstairs to the kitchen and he followed her. He offered to make breakfast so she let him. He decided to make her an omelet. When he gave her the plate, she asked "Is it normal that my thighs ache?"

He let out a small laugh and nodded.

He looked at her while she ate her omelet and ran his hand down his Mohawk and said, "Babe, about last night…"

She looked at him and said, "We don't have to tell anyone."

"Yeah? You want to this to continue?" he asked hoping she said yes 'cause last night was mind-blowing.

She shrugs and takes a bite and says "Sure."

He smiles at her, then grabs a fork and takes a bite of that omelet.

----

They had gotten so much closer than they were before. And it wasn't only about sex. She loves to hear his wild stories and he loves to hear her sing. Puck forced her to go out a bit, which she finally agreed to. Not anywhere romantic; places like the video store, the corner store or a fast-food restaurant.

One night they were lying in bed and she was telling him a story about this crazy guy she once dated while he was playing with her fingers. Hearing a story about an ex kind of got him jealous, even if the guy was crazy; it also reminded him of Finn.

"Do you still love Finn?" he asked her.

She was quiet for awhile and then said, "I don't know."

That wasn't the answer he thought she would say or the one he was hoping for, but he was fine with it for now. He kissed her on the forehead and dozed off.

----

The next morning he woke up, and she was already out of bed. He saw her standing in front of him with her hands folded. He looked at her face and saw that she was crying.

"Rachel, what wrong?" he asked as he got up.

"Noah" she said quietly, "I can't do this anymore."

He looked like he hadn't heard anything that came out of her mouth.

"You asked me if I was in love with someone else and I said 'I don't know'. I just don't want to hurt you anymore. I don't want to hurt you like I did before." She said crying.

He went to hug her, "Hey hey, sshh," he looked at her, "forget what I said that night; forget what I said about Finn. Just forget everything."

"But I can't." she shouted, "It got me thinking Noah, why did I give my virginity to you. I feel like, I'm using you."

He looked at her, he felt like he couldn't speak.

"Noah, it's better if you just leave. Don't come back tonight. Just tell you mother that I'm fine now." She said to him and then left the room.

Puck felt like he had a migraine as he rubbed his forehead. He picked up all his stuff and then walked out of the room. He passed Rachel's room to see her curled up in a ball crying. He went downstairs and put his spare key on the kitchen counter and left.

* * *

Puck didn't want to wake up for the first day of school. Not because it still was raining but because he didn't want to face Rachel. For the last few days, all he thought about was her. He had a feeling she hated him.

He got to class seconds before the final bell and sat in the back next to Finn. He gave Finn a fist bump and then Finn started to yammer about how he spent his last week of summer with Quinn at her cottage near some lake. He wasn't paying attention because the seat in front of Finn's was Rachel's and she was doodling all over her notebook.

He shook his head because he had to forget about her. Rachel doesn't want him but many other girls do. He's not going to be heartbroken over some girl.

----

Rachel didn't talk to him until two weeks later. She approached him while he was getting his textbook out from his locker.

She had a noted book in front of her chest. She looked at him and said, "Hello."

He took a glance at her, "Hey."

She was quiet for awhile. He couldn't stand it so he snapped, "You got something to say or what?"

She couldn't look at him but she whispered, "Please don't hate me."

-----

He didn't care if the guy was a senior. When Puck saw the guy throw a Slushee on Rachel, he completely lost it. He gave him a few good punches until Finn came and tried to get Puck off the guy.

Puck ran towards the girl's locker-room to see if Rachel was alright. She turned around to see him and he saw that she was crying.

"Come, I'll take you home."

Once they pulled into Rachel's driveway, they got out and walked towards the house. She walked up the front steps and then she stopped and turned around.

"You know, you didn't have to do that" she said with her hands on her hips.

Puck just shrugged and said, "Yeah I know."

"Then why did you?" she asked him quietly

He was quiet for a moment and then he replied, "Because I love you."

They stood there for awhile not saying one word, and then Puck turned around and got into his car and drove away.

----

Puck wanted to kick himself for two reasons. One; he stupidly went back to school where his dear mother was waiting for him and got a three day suspension; two for beating up the senior and one for skipping. Two; he told Rachel that he loved her and she didn't say anything back.

At the end of the day as he walked out of the school, he spotted Rachel dripping wet in the rain. It looked like she was waiting for him since she was near his car.

She saw him and ran towards him and then suddenly she grabbed on to his jacket and kissed him. He cupped her face and then deepened the kiss. After a minute, he pulled back.

"Rache, what was that all about?" he asked.

"I love you." She said smiling.

He laughed and pulled her in for another round of kissing in the rain.


End file.
